Wrath of Flesh and Steel REBORN
by tokoshie-no-sayonara
Summary: Moved to new account.
1. Current of Change

The Big Disclaimer 

**Story Has Been Changed**

I take no credit for Gundam Seed, Day After Tomorrow, or the King James Version of the Bible.

A/N 

Civilians, secrets, bomb threats, mobile suits, blood, and sneaking, OH MY! And it's just the first chapter!

_Beyond this point you read of your own free will. I am not to blame if you are offended by any of the following chapters. So don't flame. If you do, I reserve the right to publicly call you an idiot._

Here is a full summary of the story: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council set into motion Operation Ether. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, goes horribly and irrevocably awry. Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society. While in the shadows, powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

_"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;_

_And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken in a mighty wind."_

Revelations 6:12-13

King James Version of the Bible 

**Currents of Change**

* * *

Introduction 

Several weeks ago invitations were sent to announce the first annual PLANT Terrestrial Research Conference. One such invitation was sent to a Dr. Miche Crysanthys of the International Marine Monitoring Agency.

It was in fact the only invitation sent.

However Dr. Crysanthys was unable to attend. So he sent four of his most trusted interns and a chaperone to Aprilius One in his stead.

When they arrived, they soon discovered that there was no Terrestrial Research Conference, but a web of deceptions that reached to the highest authorities of earth and space.

* * *

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

"You mean that you've known all along?" One brave soul dared to question the contingent of soldiers that blocked the door. Their shadows, stretched and alien, fell across the defiant faces of the young captives. Stiff-shouldered bodies bearing ZAFT insignias blocked the stale artificial light from the open doorway, casting the small room into a frightening juxtaposition of ribbons of light and planes of shadow.

"Known and done nothing?" The voice was female, wrought with anguish and bitter rage. Her cropped blonde hair fell before her face, shadowing her blazing cobalt eyes that brimmed with angry tears that she refused to let fall. One soldier stepped forward and slipped his gun from its holster. His arm drew back, swung forward, and stuck the woman with the butt of the weapon. The milliseconds between the blow and when she collapsed to the ground slowed and hung in the air. The stakes had been raised.

"Filthy cowards! You just helped murder billions of people!" Time came reeling back as another female voice took up the call. She writhed against the crude rope bonds- to no avail. Yet this didn't hinder her determination. The people of earth had to be warned.

_In Year 70 of the Cosmic Era, after ZAFT deposited Neutron Jammers across earth's surface in Operation Uroboros, all fell to silence. Thus began the time of 'Cosmic Whispers'; the short period of political and economic quiet directly after the attack. Governments ground to a halt and communications between terrestrial nations failed as the terrified people of earth fell back to a code of instincts suppressed for the sake of evolution. There was no way for the nations of earth, thrust back into a primitive world long ago forgotten, to access their weather satellites, which hovered like specters above the chaos and confusion. Orbiting as silent witnesses to the pandemonium below. The useless eyes of a world that could no longer register sight and only flailed blindly in the night of engineered madness. _

_There was no way for the people of earth to see the strange anomalies set up at the polar ice caps and lands forever bound to frost. Giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man._

_For centuries we have invited this fate. And now... it has come._

Another grim-faced soldier stepped forward. In a fluid motion he withdrew his gun and pointed it at the forehead of the bold captive, arm straight and unwavering. The edges of his face and torso were blurred by the light that shone in dazzling contrast from behind. It caught on the cold metal weapon and gleamed across the barrel. At this range the wizened soldier could see the fire behind the young woman's cerulean eyes. A defiance that had to be quieted. At all costs.

The captives' ankles were bound with coils of yellowing rope and their wrists bound behind their backs in a similar fashion. A method primitive for the PLANT, but the only means available on such short notice. No one intended to take civilians captive. But they had seen things. Things that were worth willing killing to keep secret.

As the soldier raised his gun to the woman, she rose up on her knees and rested her forehead against the barrel in a blatant act of defiance. Quietly she spoke the words that every captive thought, but hadn't the courage to speak.

"You are already murdering countless innocent. Why then should my death matter?"

The soldier lowered the weapon with a daunting slowness till it was angled at her abdomen. Still the woman, though exhausted and afraid, refused to tear her burning gaze away. Not when the sound of a gunshot thundered dully against distant walls, not when her own dark blood trickled down her side, did she show any fear.

_For months the council had been planning. While the petty earth-nations argued about the economy and land boundaries, the ZAFT watched and planned and schemed and built._

_It was decided that during the ensuing silent chaos after ZAFT scattered the N-Jammers, special-op teams under the bold name ' Terminus' , would be sent to Antarctica, Greenland, Alaska, and both polar caps. Their mission, secret. Their devices, sinister._

_There was a plan. A way in which to finally eliminate all opposition. The details presented to the council had been vague, but convincing enough. After days of heated deliberation, Operation Terminus was ratified. _

_The northern hemisphere owes its warm climate to the __North Atlantic__ Current, which relies on a delicate saline balance in the world's oceans. For centuries, humans, bustling through industrial and scientific revolutions, have paid little heed to their celestial host, and continued to rape the earth for their selfish needs. Polluting. Stealing. Destroying. Killing. But earth won't stand for such behavior from man, who has yet to learn his place._

_An imbalance has been created. A disaster has been engineered._

"We know what you cowards did!" The woman cried in a final desperate attempt, oblivious to everything but the blood thundering in her ears and the drum of her heart beating a tattoo of righteous rage. She was blind to the pleading stares of her comrades that begged her to stop goading the soldiers' wrath. Desperation clouded her reason, and she continued recklessly.

"You disrupted the balance. It was bound to happen, but you gave the catalyst it needed. You bastards-"the martyr's voice caught suddenly. Her eyes grew wide in shock as pain finally registered. Instinctually, the woman fell back and curled her knees to her chest to protect the wound. Adrenaline flooded her blood in response to the sudden trauma coupled with utter mental distress at the knowledge that, despite their efforts, they would not leave the complex alive.

"No one else speak unless you want a similar end." Another soldier stepped forward and motioned to the woman. There was no choice but to comply. Two men and three women sat huddled together in a secret conference room at the PLANT Council Structure. It was unfortunate that they had been caught- millions, if not billions _might_ have been saved.

_Teams at the target locations used special equipment from MMI (Maius Military Industries) to break off massive tons of ice into the oceans, further widening the rift between the amounts of salt and fresh water in the planet's oceans. Earth had been at a critical desalinization point before ZAFT's meddling. And now, in C.E 71, it is too late to stop what is to come. And despite what they think, the PLANT Supreme Council does wield control over earth. For because of their actions, a terrible dawn shall arise for the world of men._

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Base ( __Taiwan__, Earth)_

Rusty and Dearka yawned simultaneously. Both had given up on asking, "what the hell are we doing in Taiwan", and settled for lounging about and looking bored. Creuset had simply given them coordinates and ushered his team to the shuttle in his usual detached manner.

Currently they were garrisoned at a captured OMNI base at Kaohsiung. Earlier in the war ZAFT had taken over and assimilated the base into a final training camp for soldiers about to go on their first missions. And to no one's surprise Creuset decided to send his team. It would also serve to calm their nerves about the first mission. The one that could make or break a soldier. The commander was especially worried about Nicol and Athrun, not having seen the warrior nerve in either of them as of yet. Dearka, Rusty, and Yzak, on the other hand seemed to have plenty of aggression for the field.

Athrun sighed and flipped a page in his book, not having read anything on the previous one. The window of his and Nicol's room was open and letting in a warm island breeze. The climate here seemed to calm everyone. Ever since they arrived, things seemed more relaxed between them. Athrun flipped another page idly.

Yzak had agreed to accompany Nicol on a tour of the area. He didn't find Kaohsiung to be all that impressive in itself, but Nicol insisted that they go around and do some cultural exploring. Seeing as how he had nothing better to do than either watch Rusty and Dearka blow snot-bubbles in their sleep, or watch Athrun get all 'broody', he decided to go exploring. Even though it was with the team's underling.

Nicol, on the other hand, was looking forward to learning more about earth. Until Commander Creuset contacted them again, the team was on some sort of quasi-vacation desguised healf-heartedly as training. This left them time to explore to their heart's content- with a superior escorting them, of course, to make sure that they didn't converse with any _questionable_ natives.

The number one rule of warfare is, and has always been, to never truly know the enemy. It was why the hundred year European occupation of the Holy Land collapsed. The Occidental Christians got to know their Jewish and Muslim neighbors, and no longer wished to fight them.

Back home information concerning the planet was limited and often very bare in details. It was their first terrestrial trip, and it was only natural to be curious about what it _really_ was like. Perhaps it wasn't as 'filthy and disease ridden' as people said back home in the PLANT. Then again, all media was biased. Even their own perceptions were biased by their beliefs and upbringing. The only thing one could do was try and remain open-minded. .

It was good for them to forget about their upcoming mission at Heliopolis, which wasn't an idea that sat well with the team. If it were an OMNI colony, their sentiments would be vastly different. But it was neutral. In fact, there was even a treaty with the parent nation of Aube. The entire situation just seemed wrong. But with things on earth beginning to change, would they ever make it to space again? More importantly, when cataclysms strikes and fear takes hold, would they even have homes to return to?

* * *

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

Lights flickered to life along the streets adjacent to the council building. The dull glow faintly touched with timid fingers the small windows of a room where hope had long since flown away. Five in total were bound and huddled in a corner. A woman with light blonde hair cradled her jaw against her shoulder. The dried blood caked to her lips and cheek hindered her speech, making even the smallest of sounds an effort. She leaned heavily on an older man with dark black hair pulled back at the nape of his neck.

Currently, his cold amethyst eyes, hardened by the field of war, were squeezed shut. Despite the fact that he was now a citizen considered 'neutral', the nearly brain-washing that he received in training came flooding back like a mighty typhoon on the banks of his mind. And now, it all seemed justified. The ZAFT were cold-hearted killers. All coordinators we- he stopped himself as a pang of guilt struck. These kids had done nothing to deserve his hatred. No one could chose what side to be born to.

"Raisu," the blond woman whispered, her pain-clouded eyes sluggishly rising to look up at the man. Despite his closed eyes, she knew he was listening. "I don't think we'll get out of here." Even though her broken words were meant for the man alone, they reached the other three captives and hung in the air like a curse.

"No Keirran, we'll get out of here," a hoarse voice from the shadows offered optimistically.

"Mido, you shouldn't be moving-"

The injured woman- teenager really, waved off the concern casually, her slight wince belying the confidence she tried to exude.

The other man in the group, a young wiry fellow with light platinum hair and languid orange eyes looked at his companions warily. The bottom half of his shirt was missing and the newly created hem hung ragged against his pale abdomen. It had been ripped off in an attempt to bind Midori's gunshot wound, which was already darkening as she strained to sit up..

"Then our first priority would be to get out alive then." The younger of the two men looked around the group as he spoke, his voice hushed.

"Jerizon, that's suicide!" Raisu hissed vehemently. His amethyst eyes narrowed at the teenager, and his voice hushed to an almost painfully soft tone. "With Midori and Keirran injured, we wouldn't make it out of the room!"

Jerizon looked to Midori and Keirran for support, still acutely wary of the lingering soldiers. "You would rather sit here and rot while ZAFT destroys earth? They have no warning," he whispered dismally.

"I would rather die trying to warn the people of earth then end up as leverage." A new voice entered the conversation. Cynthie, the youngest of the group looked Raisu in the eye with all the wisdom borne of the passing from childhood innocence to adulthood. Where frank truth and understanding coalesced. "Whether you join us or not, we are getting out of here." Her saffron eyes glinted dangerously in the faint glow of the hall lights, taking on a primal and unstable glow. The instinct to survive overrode all else.

Raisu sighed in defeat. "I know what we can do then..." his gaze drifted to the ZAFT soldiers milling in the adjacent corner." I'm sorry Mido." With that the reached over and removed Jerizon's shirt from where it was pressed tightly against Midori's abdomen. "Be glad you're a Coordinator."

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Base ( __Taiwan__, Earth)_

Athrun twitched in his sleep. His face lay plastered across an open book whose subject the young soldier most likely didn't even remember. The corner of his mouth quirked into a frown- it was cold. Athrun opened an eye warily, sleep still hazing the corners of his vision.

Earlier in the morning, when he had opened the window, it had been a temperate 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Typical for a tropical marine climate such as Taiwan. But from what he had been told, earth tended to grow hotter as the day drew on, not colder. Athrun shivered slightly. The temperature had dropped twenty degrees at least in the few hours that he had dozed off.

With a stifled groan Athrun pushed himself up out of the chair and made his way over to the window. The room that he and Nicol shared was a few paces wide, but had two small beds and a modest wooden desk taking up most of the space, so he nearly had to hug the stale walls in order to make it across the room.

After a wistful sigh Athrun folded his arms and propped them on the window sill, head gently resting upon his laced fingers. Earlier, when he had opened the window, the sky had been a pleasant shade of blue with high clouds smeared like brushstrokes across the horizon. When they first arrived he had questioned about the weather. Apparently it was overcast a majority of the year. As it was becoming now. The bright blue sky was quickly being devoured by thick gauzy clouds sluggishly moving in from the north. There would be rain here within the hour, he predicted absently. It looked as if some places were already being doused.

A cool breeze swept through the window, sifting through his dark azure hair and caressing his cheek. Behind him, he heard the pages of the book flutter. There was a bitterness in the air that he couldn't quite identify. It seemed almost like... premonition.

Athrun narrowed his eyes. In two weeks the Creuset team would go on their first mission. They would infiltrate Heliopolis and steal the new Earth Alliance mobile suits. No matter how he tried to rationalize their actions, Athrun couldn't accept that those actions would be right.

If something went wrong and the colony was destroyed, they would be hypocrites. Worse than hypocrites. They would have done the very thing that they entered the war to prevent.

* * *

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

"They were supposed to report ten minutes ago. I'll have somebody's head for this," a ZAFT commander muttered to himself as he stalked down the hallway. His demure assistant followed a proper pace behind, clipboard in hand. The commander was a tall man with a face that could once have been kind, but years in the military had turned his eyes cold and his mouth into a hard line, earning him the nickname 'stoney'. His usually hardened demeanor was even more so after the day's events.

"At least they've kept quiet…" his voice faded as they came upon the entrance to the room. The door was slightly ajar, letting a thin spear of light into the darkness. His mouth twitched into a frown. Hooking a finger around the door, the commander pulled it open and flooded the first few feet of the room with artificial white light. With an agitated sigh, he groped along the wall for a light switch.

"You all can speak up now that-" –click- the lights came on.

Three soldiers lay sprawled in the center of the room. Blood creeped across the white linoleum floor, like a living thing retreating from the sight of death. A handprint stained in vibrant crimson smeared down along the wall and blazed a distorted trail along the floor for several feet before disappearing into nothing but a trail of droplets and faint smears.

The commander burst from the room, nearly crashing into a group of passing soldiers. "Sound the alarm, they have escaped!" His enormous form trembled in rage at the thought of his men dying at civilian hands, and that those responsible ran free. "Use all force needed! They cannot escape the structure!" He gritted his teeth. After they caught the civilians they would find the bastard that called in the bomb threat that started the whole damn thing.

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Base ( __Taiwan__, Earth)_

"Two hours of museums and mud." Yzak's growl reached Athrun's ears before the two ZAFT reds trudged around the corner of the barracks. At first Athrun, still leaning against the window sille, didn't recognize his comrades. After all it wasn't every day that Yzak Joule didn't look positively dapper and charming. Athrun grinned darkly at the thought of a disheveled Yzak ranting about. There were even little curls of smoke puffing from his ears to complete the humorous little image. His damn angular haircut could be the reason why he always looked so pinched and sharp, Athrun mused, not in the best of moods.

Nicol didn't look the least bit perturbed by the mud. The young pianist (as Athrun had learned at the Academy) even hazarded a small smile-, which seemed to irritate Yzak even more for some reason.

The older of the duo sniffed in disgust. "If I knew that this would happen, I would have requested a more suitable field uniform," Yzak grimaced as he spoke, his hand straying to brush at a small patch of drying mud on his sleeve.

"It will come off your uniform, Yzak. Don't panic." Nicol tried to console his companion as best he could. Though Yzak didn't seem to notice his attempts as he neurotically continued to try and pick at the dirt on is sleeve.

They continued to walk in an uncomfortable silence. As Nicol was about to point out a small smudge of dirt on Yzak's cheek, he spotted Athrun resting his head on the window sill of their room. Or rather, he saw a shock of azure hair and the tip of a forehead just barely hanging over the sill.

"Hey Athrun!" The younger boy's light voice was unmistakable. There wasn't much Athrun could do other than lift his head and acknowledge his peers' approach- which he did with a slight wave and silent wish that they would keep on walking and let him be alone.

"You're filthy." Athrun's curt barb got the desired response from Yzak. . .

A curt "piss off Zala" before he walked off briskly, muttering something about 'filthy planets', and 'the use of bleach.'

Once Yzak had walked off towards their block's side entrance, Athrun leaned out the window and gave Nicol a wan smile.

"We went to Sun and Moon Lake," Nicol offered with a smile, obviously hoping to lighten the dark mood that seemed to hang around his friend lately. "You should've gone. It was beautiful." He continued with a wistful glance at the sky. "There were temples, gardens, and a nine-story pagoda."

Athrun's dubious expression prompted further explanation.

"It started the rain, and we had to run to catch the bus back to the base." Nicol looked back at Athrun with a chagrined sigh. That expression was somehow endearing. Not in the perverse way that Dearka made crude remarks about. But endearing in a brotherly way. This it why I protect you. As a comrade. As a friend. As a brother.

"You should clean up too, in case they call for an inspection," Athrun noted as he realized that they both had gone silent.

The younger soldier's look of horror caught Athrun off guard. Hurriedly trying to amend the situation, Athrun shook his head and said, "They probably won't. But you'd better go just in case."

They hadn't known each other before their squad assignments, but Athrun had taken to the role of playing the sensible big brother figure for Nicol. No matter how he tried to hide it, Athrun could tell that the soft-spoken soldier was worried about their first mission.

Their aggressive teammates took it upon themselves to torment Nicol whenever he was alone. Calling him "coward" for not trash-talking the Naturals, and Athrun had even heard Yzak tell Nicol that he would "become some Natural's bitch" unless he toughened up. Of course they were simply teasing him, but that was beside the point.

Athrun couldn't fathom why Nicol continued to show them kindness in the face of their torment. The phrase, 'kill them with kindness' usually didn't apply in the military.

* * *

_Morgenroete Inc. ( __Heliopolis)_

"Welcome to Morgenroete Inc., a munitions company based out of the neutral nation of Aube. On this tour you'll see some of the amazing things that this company and her supporters have created." After her introductory speech, a petit woman in a bright blue leisure suit herded the gawking group of tourists inside the main building of Heliopolis's technical hub.

Near the back of the group a small knot of teenagers conversed about themselves quietly. As the mass of people moved along the sterile hallway towards the neat information booth, flustered security contingent, and colorful Morgenroete Gift Shop, five teenagers in yellow Heliopolis Industrial College sweatshirts slunk into an adjacent hallway. One which was clearly labeled 'Authorized Personnel Only.'

"We could get expelled, or go to jail for this guys." In a matronly manner, the only female in the group, a petit brunette in jeans and a sweatshirt, cautioned her friends.

Sai turned and gave her a reassuring smile, pushing his dual-toned sunglasses up on the bridge of his nose. "Relax Mir, we just want to see if the rumors are true.".

Kuzzey, at the head of the group, turned to look back at his friends when they reached their destination. "Block D-13."

Cameras mounted on the walls continued to blink and swivel in an automatic routine. All seeing, and yet blind to the actions going on below. Under normal circumstances the teenagers would have been caught, hauled away, and chastised for getting separated from the tour group. But circumstances had changed.

Kira looked to Mir and explained in a hushed voice. "There have been rumors about Aube signing a deal with the Earth Alliance. And the rumors all have something to do with Block D-13. We'll just go in, take a look, and get out."

During the course of the conversation Tolle had strayed to the look at the door. His brows furrowed in thought as he considered the mammoth portal before them. The doors looked like they could be several feet deep, made and enforced by steel, and clearly off limits.

"How are we going to get in without the access code?" Tolle asked suddenly, looking up from the keypad and turning to face the rest of the group.

That thought sent everyone into a few moments of contemplative silence. Kira opened his mouth to speak just as a hollow, metallic burst of thunder shook the tiled floor and caused the lights to flicker haphazardly.

Sai took a step towards the massive door to touch the bright yellow stripes of warning painted across it. His movements appeared in distorted clips as the lights continued to flicker.

"Sai, no!" Miriallia yelled as she took a fearful step back.

When the lights faded to a dull glow, Kira looked around, surveying the hallway with an analytical eye. "They're on reserve power," he motioned to the dull yellow glow coming from lights imbedded in the stark floor.

Tolle and Kuzzey joined Sai at the door, each looking at or touching it with a tentative hand. Somewhere beyond the door, another explosion sounded.

"Kira," Mir began slowly, horror dawning in her voice. "Why can't we hear anyone?"

Everyone turned to look at the hallway they had come from- to see a thick slab of metal blocking the path.

"In case of an attack, it drops down to protect the entrance." Kira noted calmly as he walked to the keypad next to the door. His stride suggested a sudden air of authority and the tone of his voice remained calm.

In a few quick strokes of the keys, the screen read 'accepted' and the Block D-13 doors began to grind open.

"We have no other choice."

Before they could ask how he knew, Kira explained it deftly, "Alexander Morgenroete, creator of Morgenroete Inc. was German. And since it called for an eleven number password at D-13, it was the German word for the number thirteen, dreizehn, transferred to its numeric counterpart. 4(d) 18(r) 5(e) 9(i) 26(z) 5(e) 8(h) 14(n)"

The small group of Heliopolis Industrial College students waited as the doors retreated into the walls, slowly revealing that distant war-torn world that seemed so far from their neutral naiveté. People dressed in civilian clothing darted behind machinery and attacked approaching Earth Alliance soldiers with primal efficiency. Their deafening cries ricocheted off the steel walls with lives of their as a cacophony of gunshots and explosions rang out from throught the block.

But dominating the Block D-13 floor were four massive mobile suits laying prostrate on steel platforms. In rapid succession, four of the machines stood. Colors blazed to life across the once gray armor. Blitz, Buster, Duel, and Aegis had been awakened.


	2. Courage to Lift the Fallen

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Gundam Seed or Day After Tomorrow. And now I also own nothing of '_Tathea_' by Ann Perry and the song Nemo by Nightwish. In fact, I suggest that you go to the library and music store right now! BTW, the orchestral version of Nemo is better in my opinion.

A/N 

Voices in the dark, clandestine tidings, angsty-ness, and music. Dun-Dun!

Here is a full summary of the story: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council sets into motion Operation Ether. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, goes horribly and irrevocably awry. Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society. While in the shadows, powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

**Courage to Lift the Fallen**

* * *

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

Five nameless shadows drifted through abandoned hallways deep within the sprawling council structure. Their unsure steps relentlessly haunted by paranoia borne of fatigue and unending fear of what may await for them around each dark corner, where unseen demons searched for them with guns poised.

The dim light cast by cheap, fluorescent lighting along the floors and ceilings cast a effluvial sepia glow that clung to every hair, every exposed area of flesh, and every fiber of fabric. Seeping inside and remaining as a caustic residue that would haunt the weary escapees' memories till their dying breathes. The fetid yellow light that lingered near the ceiling and rose like mist from the floor turned the never ending hallways into a hazy quagmire where imaginations ran rampant and eyes burned with straining desire to find the end.

Somewhere, deeper in the structure, where the outside world was seen through darkened screens and fleeting glimpses, a smooth voice spoke into the darkness. "They're going right where we want them."

* * *

_PLANT Supreme Council Meeting Chamber( Aprilius One) _

The members of the council had long since departed the large council structure. Even as they returned to their homes and hotels, many of the chair members remained unnerved. The caller of an anonymous bomb threat near the end of the meeting had yet to be found- along with any bomb. Someone had obviously wanted to interrupt the meeting. However no one could fathom why.

Despite the late hour, five of the twelve seats remained occupied at various stations around the massive, semicircular steel desk. The central lights of the meeting chamber were dark. Now the only light came from pale yellow fluorescents embedded into the cool marble floor. The glow hung low and remained like a soft, sulfuric mist. The faces of the remaining council members were cast into harsh planes and shadows, suitable for their clandestine tidings.

"**It seems that your plan is beginning to take effect**."

"**Yes Judicial Committee chair, It would seem that is has**."

"**We should make preparations to draw our troops from Earth."**

"**How long would that take?"**

"**Two weeks, three if we do not wish to look too suspicious**."

"**Have the teams returned from earth?"**

"**Just the other day. They say that it was a success, and that we should begin to see effects within the next few weeks**."

"**Intel has already reported drastic temperature drops in ** **Asia**** and ** **India****, as well as a large low pressure zone in ** **Siberia**** and northern ** **Canada**"

Silence.

"**It would seem that our plans have accelerated. Continue with your assignments. If any one catches word of this... you know what to do.**"

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Base ( _ _Taiwan__, Earth)_

The first week of their terrestrial trip was over, leaving the Creuset Team rather bored. There were no more interesting things to be done about the base. Like a hotel room that has been thoroughly searched, the team felt a bored familiarity with their surroundings.

Athrun and Nicol lay on their respective beds; the single window no longer cast open due to the sudden cold that had presented itself earlier in the week. Propped against the headboard with a book resting on his knees, Athrun flipped another page. It was an old book by an archaic author from the 21st century. He was surprised that the base even had a working print library.

"_Know this, that in the beginning, through the dark reaches of infinity, was the law by which every intelligence has its being and fulfills the measure of its creation._" Did that mean that coordinators were destined to become the dominant species? If they fulfilled the measure of their creation, that would be the final result. And because of that truth, the Naturals despised them and wanted them erased from the universe, no matter what the cost. They would never cede dominance peacefully.

Athrun's acidic eyes drooped, his thoughts shifting from one woman's journey towards enlightenment, to the turbulent current of events flowing around him.

"Remain unmoving as a stone. Let the currents of time pass around you, until you are all that remains. Strong and eternal." His father had once said.

Athrun closed his eyes against the burning words on the page. "_When your spirit is harrowed by despair and all else fails you, compassion will magnify your soul until no glory is impossible_." His soul was indeed floundering in despair, but compassion seemed an elusive glimmer of light that he simply couldn't catch. Instead, he would murder and kill till his kind's measure of creation was fulfilled.

"_Courage will lift the fallen, make bearable the ache of many wounds, and guide your feet on the path when your eyes no longer see the light."_

His pain, his suffering, his guilt, - all lay bare on pages of archaic print. He would have courage. Not for himself, but for Lacus, for his team mates, and for his mother. If he died on some distant battlefield, it would not have been in vain. But why was he still afraid? How could he protect those he cared for if somewhere, deep inside, he was too afraid to stand up and fight?

Nicol laid on his stomach, propped up on his elbows with a PMP (Personal Music Player) console in his hand, the ear receivers hidden by loose, unkempt shocks of peridot. Nicol started up as a sound- a sharp intake breath- cut through the music.

"Athrun," he called quietly, pulling out the ear receivers and turning to look at his friend's bed.

"Athrun," Nicol repeated, now slightly worried.

He was curled over his knees, arms wrapped around them to try and still the silent convulsions. A book lay forgotten on the floor where it had fallen, yellowing pages still drifting from one side to another. Waving sadly. His dark azure hair shadowed his face, and his head remained bowed in either shame or sheer inability to lift it.

Athrun didn't lift his head; he didn't want to look Nicol in the eyes. All he wanted to do was die of grief. He had signed up for the military just days after the Bloody Valentine, with no time to mourn for the dead. This weakness, it was abominable. Soldiers don't cry. They don't show weakness! His mind screamed at him to stop and regain his composure, to stop acting like a child. But his heart wouldn't comply. He was too exhausted, emotionally, to continue on.

The younger soldier watched in empathy, knowing that it would only hurt Athrun's pride if he tried to console him. The PMP continued to play through the song; the words muffled, but still painfully clear and painfully appropriate for the moment of poignant despair.

_"__Oh how I wish__  
For soothing rain  
All I wish is to dream again  
My loving heart  
Lost in the dark  
For hope I'd give my everything_

My flower, withered between  
The pages 2 and 3  
The once and forever bloom  
gone with my sins

Walk the dark path  
Sleep with angels  
Call the past for help  
Touch me with your love  
And reveal to me my true name_..."_


	3. Primal Instincts

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed. 

Portion with ----- around it might be disturbing to younger audiences, I suppose. But I did try to write it tastefully... if that's possible. It's simply a bloody incident. Deal with it.

**This chapter is rated T for:** violence and vulgar language.

I know that the fighters might be a bit confusing, but just put on your boots and wade through it. It's important and will be explained in later chapters, trust me.

A/N 

Something strange afoot in Heliopolis, some banter, a new menace, and Cagalli makes _quite_ an entrance.

Here is a full summary of the story: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council sets into motion Operation Ether. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, goes horribly and irrevocably awry. Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society. While in the shadows, powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

**Primal Instincts**

* * *

_Morgenroete Inc. ( __Heliopolis)_

The group of teenagers took a step back, the true meaning of horror taking root in their young minds. A battle waged below. Gunshots echoed and ricocheted from unknown assailants as fuel trucks were set ablaze like great bonfires on the block floor. Great metallic bursts of thunder reverberated through the air as fuel tankers belched forth giant plumes of black smoke and bright flame. Supply trucks veered to avoid the carnage. Like a child with toy cars, inertia rolled the trucks and sent them skidding into each other and panicked pedestrians.

-----People in civilian clothing charged madly towards anyone in their path, raising a great battle cry as they lifted their crude weapons into the air. The screaming rose to a hellish wailing pitch as the civilians were driven mad by the smell of blood and urged onward by their lust for it. They moved with an unnatural cat-like agility. Their eyes were wild, _drugged._

Some were bloodied, and yet appeared uninjured. They fell onto the injured soldiers and beat them with scraps of jagged metal. Bludgeoning and impaling any who were separated from the ranks with perverse glee and fervor. Nothing but the sound of war drums beat a wild tattoo in their ears. Driving them on to a fever pitch.-----

Mir turned around to run through the Block D-13 door. She wanted to scream, wail, run till her heart burst and the images faded away. The blood drained from her face. Panic gripped her heart and squeezed till it bled terror. They were trapped between combat and solid metal.

"The door is closed!" she nearly screamed, her voice cracking as another explosion sounded somewhere on the block floor. Her hands bunched the bottom of her sweatshirt. The material strained as she clenched it tightly with white knuckles.

"What?" Sai and Tolle cried in unison as they ran to the thick steel door. They pounded their fists against the uncaring steel. Their heads swam as a dizzying buzz filled their ears, drowning out the din of nearby battle.

Four metallic bodies stood in the center of the block floor, eyes bright and inhumanly blank. Unmoving and resolute in the chaos around them. Like great towers before the thrashing sea, they stared out over the tempest of humanity.

* * *

"Everyone to the Archangel, the G-Units have been lost!" a female voice shouted above the chaos that was beginning to erupt in the hall adjacent to Block D-13. The passage was jammed with retreating soldiers, each pushing and shoving to try and escape first. There was no order. Control had been lost to fear. Murrue gritted her teeth, _'they're all novices_,' she thought with despair. The few superiors seemed to have disappeared during the confusion.

"Lieutenant-" Mwu pushed his way through the retreating OMNI soldiers. The press of bodies nearly crushed him as he tried to move against the current. His hair was disheveled. Sweat had once plastered it to his forehead, but he had since run a hand through it, unconsciously spiking it in various wayward directions. There was no time for him to voice his questions, _'what the hell is going on, who is attacking us?'_

"Get all remaining soldiers on board the ship!" She called to anyone willing to hear. In her orange jumpsuit, Murrue began ushering the panicked mechanics towards the next block. "Calm down!" she cried over the fear laden babble as she brought up her hands to stop the encroaching mass. Anxiously, she keyed in the Block E-7 entrance code, breath held in fearful anticipation.

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Barracks ( __Taiwan__, Earth)_

"I wonder what's going on back home," Dearka asked suddenly. He turning over on his bed to look at Yzak, who was leaning against the window sill. Aloof, as always.

There was a moment of silence as each soldier made his own silent guess. At first the thought of being so far from home was exciting; an adventure. However as the days droned on, each began to feel more worried about those so far above. Sure Yzak could be one cocky bastard, but deep down, he had to give a crap about a few people.

Dearka cracked a rueful grin as he tried to imagine the few people that Yzak Joule might just give a crap about. _'None of us_," he thought dryly. "_His mom, duh. Maybe our Yzak has a girl at home. Naughty bastard_." Dearka disguised a short laugh as a none too eloquent cough while he tried look as innocent as possible. Which was pretty damning in itself- when was he ever innocent?

"What the hell is your problem?" Yzak turned slightly, cocking a dignified eyebrow as he spoke.

_'Hell, if Yzak was around girls when he wasn't pissed, he would have trouble keeping them off him.'_ That thought sent Dearka into another little fit of 'coughing'.

Yzak's eye twitched, "Why the hell are you laughing at me? Don't even try covering it up, you're as bad a liar as you are a fighter."

"No need to be brutal," the blonde scoffed in mock indignation. "I was just thinking about you with a girl."

Had hell frozen over? Did Dearka detect a slight softening of the inscrutable brick wall that was his comrade's face? Before he could tease Yzak about it, he turned back to the window with a curt, "What makes you think that that's any of your damn business?"

"Oooh" Dearka swooned. "Yzak has his eye on someone," he continued to tease, failing to notice Yzak's shoulders twitch. "I bet that it's a redhead or maybe a blonde..."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Huh? Ouch, No need to be testy Yzak. I was just kidding..." Dearka held his hands up in defeat.

There was a sigh, and then Yzak shifted to lean against the open windowsill. "Tcht, whatever."

* * *

_Observation Deck, Morgenroete Inc. ( __Heliopolis)_

"Ah, General Loem. The proud Earth Alliance officer. Handing over the military's most secret weapons to a band of radical environmentalists." The male civilian sounded not at all displeased. His voice was smooth, corrosive to the will. Sweet as honey with an adder's tongue. Political.

The EA officer opposite him, presumably General Loem, gave an undignified grunt. Moments later he broke into a wide grin. "They didn't suspect a thing."

Both men laughed. Outside their viewing window, chaos continued to reign across the block floor. Above them, the Heliopolis emergency intercom system announced a mandatory evacuation of all civilians.

* * *

_Aube__ Military Transport Plane ( Somewhere over the Pacific )_

Only two passengers occupied the transport plane's plush, velvet lined VIP seats.

Seemingly unaccustomed to the dignified finery he was wearing, a large man seated near the front of the plane pulled at his sleeve absently. The starched fabric against his skin had a claustrophobic effect that was nearly making him ill.

Several rows back, on the opposite aisle of seating, a young blonde woman stared out the window with sullen amber eyes. Her hand strayed the brush the rich crimson velvet that ran along the armrest. Such finery was a waste while men were out fighting and dying for what they believed in. But no, she was stuck on this damnable plane to Taiwan as her father's emissary. Who cared if Taiwan had a 'booming' scientific industry now that ZAFT took over? She didn't.

The man near the front of the plane turned and called to her in a fatherly tone, "Cagalli." When she looked up, he continued. "Don't act so offended when we reach Kaohsiung. The better you act, the sooner it will be over."

Affronted, Cagalli looked at the ceiling of the plane and crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. "But Kaohsiung is a ZAFT base. Couldn't we meet somewhere else? It's not-"

" Kaohsiung has the nicest meeting facilities," the man cut in gently. "The Taiwan Council wants to make a good impression on Aube."

This seemed to mollify her, if only for a bit. "I know, Kisaka," she muttered and looked back out the window, where a small island was beginning to take shape amid the sparkling blue.

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Base ( __Taiwan__, earth )_

Five ZAFT reds walked across the courtyard, leaving the barracks for weekly inspection. It was quite a boring affair. They all simply stood in their formations, were counted, were talked to but never paid attention, then released.

When they arrived the Creuset team had been informed that inspection occurred every Friday at 1300 ( 1 p.m.). Well, it was Wednesday and 0900 ( 9 a.m.)

"I bet that it's somebody important. I heard that that's the only time when they have 'special inspection'," Rusty noted in his usual jovial manner while resting an elbow on Dearka's shoulder and making a scholarly gesture.

Yzak snorted, "No shit."

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Base Runway ( __Taiwan__, Earth)_

Cagalli looked out the window with disinterest as the plane circled the runway. There seemed to be people massing in the courtyard of a big rectangular structure. _'That would be the base,'_ she mentally slapped herself in the forehead. She caught a fleeting glimpse of a long, white ramp several miles off shore, dipping towards earth before rising like a beacon towards the sky. Towards space. ' _Third_ _Phase_ _Space_ _Port__,'_ as it was called, even though the original had been destroyed and a more advanced Mass Driver had been erected. This one had been built over Third Phase's grave. She said a silent apology to the structure. The tragedy had been in part Aube's fault.

The people below were clumps of red and green. _'Like a Christmas party'_ she mused absently. When the plane touched down on the runway, Cagalli immediately gripped the arm rest. Not out of fear, but in apprehension. There was a gnawing feeling in her stomach that told her she would have to walk across that courtyard, filled with ZAFT soldiers, all watching, all those eyes on her...

"Cagalli?" She nearly jumped out of her seat, held only in place by the seatbelt and her death grip on the arm rests.

"Cagalli," Kisaka repeated while prying one of her hands free of the velvet arm rest.

How had he snuck up on her so quickly? She must be losing her mind. Cagalli shook her head. "Just nerves," she lied quickly, grinning up at Kisaka.

After rolling his eyes in exasperation, Kisaka reached up and unlatched the compartment above Cagalli's seat, pulling out the small white duffel bag, where he suspected his princess had stored her gun. Because of course, there was no place for it on her formal uniform.

The duo exited the plane after a quick word with the captain. He would return for them in one week. _'How long does it take to work out a trade agreement?'_ Cagalli thought to herself dismally. To complete her 'jolly' day she had just been informed that they would be staying in the imperial suite above the barracks. _Oh joy_. Now they could be close to the crazy people with guns that wanted to kills the Naturals.

Well if they were trying to intimidate her into any decisions, they had another thing coming! Cagalli took the final step off of the plane's retractable stairs and onto the runway. A ZAFT officer in a white uniform stood there to greet them. His boots were polished and hair was combed back neatly… and he seemed to be looking down his nose at them. Cagalli tried to hide her look of disgust, knowing that the man was equally unhappy about hosting Naturals.

"This way please," he stated curtly and turned smartly on his heel to begin walking towards the base.

_'Show off'_, Cagalli thought darkly. _'I can turn on my heels too..._'

"Cagalli," Kisaka called sharply from several feet ahead.

The Aube princess hurried after him, telling herself silently to stop drifting off. _'Then they'll think I'm a total ditz._'

* * *

The Creuset team stood at the front of the large formation with the rest of the elites lined out beside them. Behind were the regular soldiers in green, most likely glowering at their superior counterparts. 

Yzak elbowed Dearka, nodding his head towards the large entry gates which had begun to swing inward. "Who is it?"

Dearka turned to Athrun and whispered, "Hey Athrun, you're closer, can you see?"

"I'm closer by two people down the line. I think that we have the same view."

Rusty and Nicol, the two in between, let out breathy chuckles at Athrun's annoyed tone. An officer was slowly moving along the ranks, positioning a shoulder here and straightening a collar there. When she passed between Dearka and Yzak, she gave the tall blonde a withering glare.

Now at the front, the officer, Athrun recognized her as Eliza Benelt, clasped her hands behind her back. "We are hosting the Aube Union's emissary, Princess Cagalli Yula Athha. If any of you so much as screw up, the rest of your time will be spent doing kitchen duty." She didn't yell, but her voice had enough force to carry across the courtyard like a gunshot.

The block of soldiers shifted, like a single entity, as several hundred hands shot up into a simultaneous salute. Benelt gave them a final nod before retreating to her station along the entrance walk where all the officers were lined up.

_'Oh God'_ Cagalli thought as the gate began to swing open. They would have to walk across the courtyard. She took a deep breath as she and Kisaka began to take their first steps through the gate and into the ZAFT compound. Their escort seemed unfazed by all the eyes watching him as he walked several even paces before the visiting dignitaries.

There must've been a thousand eyes watching her, judging and comparing. Could they tell that she wasn't a Coordinator? Lord, she was going to slip up somehow. Trip and fall flat on her face. Or maybe just snap from the pressure. Or maybe...

Athrun saw the look in Dearka's eye as the girl walked by. Oh no, he wouldn't. Nicol and Rusty cringed, also realizing what must be coming.

A long shrill whistle cut through the still air, followed by an even higher note that seemed to echo for an eternity. The formation held its collective breath, a thousand eyes watching the girl falter.

Kisaka reached over to put a hand around Cagalli's shoulder and lead her on, but found that the princess was not there. _'Oh no._'

"What the hell was that for!" Cagalli shouted at some dumb-ass blonde shoulder who looked chagrined, but unrepentant. Her amber eyes blazed dangerously as she leaned towards him, fists balled at her sides.

Somewhere at the back of her mind, the rational Cagalli slapped her forehead. Three soldiers rushed to the offender's side and began to apologize profusely as they pushed their ass of a comrade back. However one remained where he was... and was... laughing? _'Stupid silver-haired prick'_, Cagalli thought as she gave the chuckling soldier a smoldering glare hot enough to melt solid steel.

The three others continued to apologize and get in the way. Dammit, leave her to her prey! Cagalli reached out and slapped the nearest interloper; some soldier in red with dark azure hair. The sound of palm meeting flesh echoed against the concrete walls that surrounded them, louder than the whistle that started everything. Cagalli instantly felt a pang of guilt when the soldier stumbled back to his position, stung, drawn.

"Athrun," the youngest looking of the interlopers with light peridot hair paused to look over at the soldier whose cheek was slowly beginning to grow red in the shape of Cagalli's hand. By that time, Kisaka had managed to run over and grab his princess by the wrist and begin to draw her away. She didn't struggle. Cagalli only looked over her shoulder once at the small knot of soldiers who had already slipped back into position. As if nothing had happened.

No doubt the tall blond one would get in trouble, it was his fault. But if she had only let it slide, not let her temper get in the way... '_Dammit_'


	4. Threshold of Heaven

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Gundam Seed.

**This chapter has been difficult from the beginning. I simply can't get the quality up to where I need it to be. Eventually I'll edit it, I suppose.**

A/N

Treachery, observations, and a wearing off of drugs.

Here is a full summary of the story: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council sets into motion Operation Ether. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, goes horribly and irrevocably awry. Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society. While in the shadows, powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

**Threshold of Heaven **

* * *

_Morgenroete Observation Deck D ( __Heliopolis)_

General Loem stood before the window with his hands clasped behind his back. Aside from a few setbacks, everything was going according to their plans. Below, where he watched with a slight frown, the chaos on the Block D-13 floor was beginning to die down. He glanced suspiciously to Mickaelo Dast, leader of the environmentalist Earth United Organization, EUO.

He turned away from the window to glare at Dast accusingly. "I thought you said that the drugs would last longer on them. The civilians are already beginning to slow down."

Dast looked up from his newspaper as if he couldn't care less about Loem's problems. With a sigh he tossed the news paper onto the table in the center of the room in a fluid, careless motion.

"I never said how long the drugs would last. The fact that you diluted it by mixing it with their drinks..." he shook his head in feigned disappointment. "It would have been more potent in its pill form."

"Wouldn't it be a bit conspicuous to give them all pills," Loem snorted. "They thought they were coming to Heliopolis for some sort of environmentalist rally, or some such bullshit we told them. It was easier to mix the powder in their complementary drinks on the shuttle-"

There was a click as the over head intercom switched on.

A man's voice crackled through the speaker, "sirs, four of the mobile suits have been captured. We are unable to find the fifth, but are under the presumption that it was taken for last minute inspections somewhere else within the facility."

Dast looked up at the speaker embedded into the speckled white and blue ceiling, "what of the ship? The something- angel."

The man on the other end of the intercom faltered. "They didn't make it far enough. The doors to that block have been sealed from within-"

"Imbeciles! That was the main objective!" After a deep breath, Dast walked over to the viewing window and looked down on the people below with something akin to disappointment. He inclined his head towards the speaker, "No matter. Take what you can. Have my shuttle made ready.

"Yessir." The comm. clicked off.

Loem took a tentative step forward, steely gray eyes glinting at the near completion of their plans. "You...you mean our shuttle? And there is my payment to-"

"No." Dast cut in coldly, drawing a gun from the inside of his fine silk jacket. The foreboding motion commanded the officer to silence. "No, I mean my shuttle. You have served your purpose. May God have pity on your soul for your evil deeds." That morbid sweetness, chilling and perversely beautiful in its intonations, sealed Loem's fate.

It had been difficult to get his operatives into positions of power within the military. Many had been forced to kill on the battlefield to earn their promotions. However the deaths of a few ZAFT were trivial. After all, ZAFT could simply create more soldiers in test tubes or whatnot. So it was of no concern. Getting them all sent to Heliopolis as crew was simple. All problems could be solved with a little monetary aid.

It was almost sad that all those faithful followers of his had to die for this plan to work.

* * *

_Block D-13 Entry Way_ (_Heliopolis)_

The Heliopolis students remained against the block door,waiting the battle out huddled together and afraid. Kira looked up from the floor. Did shadows move behind the windows of one of the observations decks? He narrowed his eyes, it was on the other side of the block, but he could barely make out a military uniform of some sort on one of the figures. The one in the uniform was slowly backing against the window, it looked like his hands were raised. He was warning no, surrendering? Kira leaned forward to try and make out the details

Another man emerged from the shadows of the room; however this one was pointing something at the soldier. Pointing, what, Kira wondered.

Kuzzey glanced up to find Kira straining to see something. He squinted in the same direction, but found nothing but a shadowed observation deck, blurred by plumes of oily black smoke.

Kira's gaze latched onto the man who was now backed against the windows, the folds of his uniform smoothed against the glass. It was white. He was an officer. The civilian's arm drew back as the soldier began to slide down the window. Kira blinked, trying to refocus his eyes. The smothered back of his uniform wasn't white, it was red.

Perhaps something had gotten into his eye, blurred his vision. Looking away, Kira leaned over to rub his closed eye. After blinking a few times Kira turnined again towards the observation deck. The soldier wasn't there this time. But the window where he had been, remained smeared with red.

"Hey Kira," Sai reached over and poked him in the shoulder, "Can you hear it? The Emergency intercom is calling for an evacuation."

* * *

_Block E-7, Mobile Assault Ship Archangel ( __Heliopolis)_

Murrue looked down at the uncertain soldiers manning unfamiliar posts on the bridge. They would have to be prepared for a situation such as this, she told herself repeatedly. This was war. She looked to the crew, issuing her first command from the captain's seat. "Fire up the auxiliary boosters. Lieutenant-" Murrue craned her neck to look up at Mu. "Find out how many we have taken on and if they're suitable to help man the ship."

Mu nodded and exited the bridge, his retreating footsteps silenced as the door slid shut. Lieutenant, or rather, Captain Ramius took a deep breath and turned back to the bridge with a silent prayer.

On the mobile suit deck, the Strike, the only G-Unit that had been saved, stood forlorn in the darkness.

* * *

_Block D-13 ( __Heliopolis)_

Lawyers, dentists, housewives, and businessmen stood in the middle of the block floor. A single palpable question prickled the air now rank with the scent of death. _How did we get here?_

Many were dead. Their bodies lay prostrate on the steel floor. Some were propped against fallen trucks. And many still clutched their crude weapons, as if they could save them from their own wretched mortality.

The confused silence was broken as a woman broke into a sob. The heart wrenching wail echoed against abandoned machinery. Soon people began shouting and running to the fallen. Friends were found dead, and loved ones lingered on the threshold of heaven.


	5. Through the Liquid Lens

**Dislaimer**: Still, I own none of the rights to Gundam Seed or The Elementals.

The last is where the quote is from. Read that book, it's awesome.

Part with ( blah ) is background information

A/N

A warning, something sinister brewing, the true state of the Cosmic Era, and the pounding surf.

This chapter goes into aspects of the Cosmic Era not really explored by the series- the environment, most noticeably the oceans. I nearly cried while writing this, and 'Fields of Hope' playing over and over didn't help any either.

Here is a full summary of the story: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council sets into motion Operation Ether. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, goes horribly and irrevocably awry. Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society. While in the shadows, powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

**Through the Liquid Lens **

**

* * *

**

_"We are the planet's dual-purpose organ of reproduction and reverence. The trinity of sun, moon, and earth exchange their sacred energies through the linkage we provide. _

_We do not see humans as humans perceive themselves. The creature called Man appears to use as a core of heat giving off radiance in the warm spectrum. Man is a seeker of solid surfaces, a self-replenishing organism capable of creating toxic wastes. _

_Man is a cancer that crawled from our womb. We are watching. We are aware. We are the sea_."

The Elementals, Morgan Llywelyn, 1993

* * *

_International Marine Monitoring Agency (IMMA) Northern Hemisphere HQ. ( __Port Alberni_ _British Columbia__. Earth)_

"Those kids have been gone for a long time," a middle-aged man behind a computer screen remarked to his comrade, emphasizing his words with a nod to the empty chairs huddled around a dry erase board like baby ducks to their mother. Usually the four rolling chairs were occupied by IMMA's three interns and their single security guard, who lately was more of a student than a sentry.

The other scientist chuckled. "They're teenagers. Probably off shopping and sightseeing. It isn't everyday that people here get to visit the PLANT. Well, 'cept for Miche's kid, but that's because her mom is up there."

An archaic computer, whose dark screen had been converted into a home for wayward sticky-notes and ancient phone messages abruptly to whirred to life. Papers stacked upon the monitor were sent skittering to the floor and the frail sticky-notes were easily pealed from the screen and tossed into the air like stale confetti as a gust of abnormally frigid air burst through the open window.

"Oh no!"

Both scientists lunged from their swivel chairs, skidding on the fallen papers as they grappled with the airborne documents. Maps, charts, time lines, all quite recent. The men looked at each other, both holding a handful of the strange printouts. Neither of them had done such research.

In the corner, on the desk formerly littered with topographic maps and newspaper clippings, a rapid succession of numbers streamed down a computer screen now unburdened of years worth of fading yellow notes.

4311-13

4317-13

4295-12

* * *

_IMMA Southern Hemisphere HQ. (_ _Sydney_ _Australia__. Earth)_

A computer, whose monitor was dark and coated in dust, gave a mechanical wheeze.

Several men lounging in front of various unused computers looked at each other in slight alarm. Their comrades, who had been taking the time to sleep, lifted their heads and looked around groggily. A few turned in their chairs to glance about the darkened room with a growing sense of unease. Because of the year's record shattering oceanic activity, any information coming from the water was dreaded. Now everyone lived in fear.

Atlantic hurricane season had officially ended in October, three months prior. But at the end of December a category four hit the state of Florida and traveled inland as far north as New Jersey, decimating the East Coast. The worst typhoon of the century less than a week ago had sent parts of Australia into a state of panic. In November, Typhoon Iseul sent parts of Southeast Asia back below the poverty line. Some estimated 8,000 were counted dead in the Philippines alone.

Something evil was growing restless in the oceans.

Every alliance system of the world was feeling Mother Nature's wrath. The Atlantic Federation was still pouring monetary aid into rebuilding the East Coast. All the while holding riots and looting at bay. As always, the people most hurt were the poor. Like clips from old news reels, people sat transfixed in front of their televisions and watched as people were air-lifted from their island rooftops.

Filth floated through the streets where children had once played. Debris choked through broken stained glass windows of neighborhood churches. Bodies lay exposed to the elements. But despite the magnitude of destruction and pain, the people of the United States kindled the familiar spark of brotherhood only found after tragedy, and fanned it till the flames burned away the despair. Humility and charity took the place of bias and greed. All thoughts of war were pushed aside. Again the people linked hands and looked to the sunrise with a new appreciation. If only for a moment, millions of hearts beat as one.

Both the Republic of East Asia and the Equatorial Union were trying not to drown in Typhoon Iseul's terrible wake. In November, less than 2 months earlier, the early warning system activated at the dawning of the Cosmic Era rang out through every major city in China, Japan, and the recently united nation of Korea. People were awoken during the dead of night by loud sirens blaring Typhoon Iseul's approach. A red haze fell across the land as sirens screamed and whistled long into the cool night. While blanched parents loaded frightened children into cars- tearfully ignoring the hysterical pleas to return for a beloved pet or toy-, an unseen force rocketed beneath the water, seeking land like a ravenous beast. In the dead of night, no one saw the water recede. No one felt the ocean's fury slam into the shallows off the coast. No one saw the black water surge up into an angry wall of darker black against the night sky. Sadly, no one could have guessed the strength the Super-Typhoon carried with her across the sea.

Highways unaccustomed to the heavy traffic quickly became congested and impassable. People fleeing inland abandoned their cars and braved the rain with dogged determination. Mountainous landscapes succumbed to the rain and collapsed to mud. As Iseul irratically charged towards land, cries went up throughout Southeast Asia.

"Mite!"

"Shen me? Na li!"

"Towajuseyo!"

Parents clung to their children as dark water swirled around their cars and merged with the night sky till the world swirled to black under a haze of red.

When the sun finally did rise over the otherworldly landscape, people joined hands with strangers and turned to the sky; another day had risen. Children clutching dirtied stuffed animals stood atop cars and houses while bodies of the less fortunate drifted peacefully beneath a blue sky. It was not the first time that such a thing had happened, and it was not the last. But it was the price to see the brilliant blue sky, so peaceful and bright. With the wisdom of youth, children took the hands of adults and pointed to the sky,"We are still alive."

Those in Indonesia and the Philippines weren't as fortunate. The death toll in the Philippines equaled that in all the other nations combined, as they had lain directly in Iseul's path. As one of the poorest of alliance systems, the Equatorial Union was and still remains unable to take care of all the bodies and house those whose homes were taken from them. The PLANT aligned Oceania Union offered aid- until they were struck a while after. Two months later the damage inflicted on the poor nations still looks fresh.

The typhoon that struck Australia hit less than two week ago, and the government has almost restored the basic amenities of freshwater and power to all areas. The rapid recovery from chaos is due mainly to shipments of aid into Carpentaria from the PLANTs. However many Australians refused to accept the aid when their neighbors in Asia, who were hit much worse, were receiving not so much as a glance from the space-nation.

Everywhere it seemed climatologically related occurrences were growing stronger and more deadly.

The pale haze cast by the computer screens didn't penetrate the shadows that clung to the walls of the Sydney IMMA office. Not until a computer, forgotten until that moment took it upon itself to illuminate the back corner and banish the darkness there.

The screen blinked on as a column of numbers began to rush past.

4311-13

4317-13

4295-12

* * *

_Gulf of Mexico__ Marine Research Facility ( __Galveston_ _Texas__. Earth_) 

The small, whitewashed brick building was abandoned. The sign painted over. The parking lot empty. However on the side of the building, the cracking, pollution stained mural of earth remained.

A small white cable ran from the inside of the building, out of a crack in the mural, along the buffalo grass and oleander bushes, around tagged dumpsters, and between dilapidated houses, to an old shop on Sea Wall Drive.

It slid through a crack in the foundation to the base of an archaic CPU. A table, made of an old sheet of dirty plywood and cinder blocks kept the computer and topographic maps- all that remained of the Gulf of Mexico Research Facility- off the filthy concrete floor.

As seawater lapped at the door, the computer switched itself on.

* * *

_IMMA Northern Hemisphere HQ ( __Port Alberni_ _British Columbia__. Earth)_

The two scientists hovered around the computer, watching the three series of numbers, transfixed, and yet greatly disturbed.

Another man walked in with a bag of takeout food and a drink in hand. "Temperature has dropped almost 20 degrees in the past two days," he continued to talk as his comrades sat about a computer shoved in the corner. "Who thought Canada could get colder in January, eh?" He chuckled at his own joke. "I wish I was back in Galveston, with a whole row of computers just waiting to do my bidding, temperatures never lower than 40, and not a speck of snow in that big blue sky..." he stared at the ceiling wistfully, draping his coat over the back of his chair and flippantly tossing the bag of food on the desk. "Well, I know I'm not that funny, but you could at least recognize my existence!"

The new arrival walked over to where his comrades sat and looked over their shoulders. "Hey, where did the papers go that were on top of there-

He was waved to silence by the older of the two men, "The first, corresponds to a buoy. And the second..." the elderly scientist flipped through the program manual. His periwinkle eyes, entrenched in wrinkles and heavyset white brows, lighted upon their quarry. "The second is a surface temperature reading. A positive or negative sign before the number indicates whether temperature dropped, or rose-"

* * *

_IMMA Southern Hemisphere HQ ( __Sydney_ _Australia__. Earth)_

"-by the second number. Clicking on the series of numbers will give the latitude and longitude location of the buoy. If a drastic change occurs, this program will initiate itself in all locations installed. If the aforementioned occurs, please call the help desk at…" the manual was set down on top of the nearest monitor as the marine specialists shifted over to look at the mysterious computer screen.

Someone reached forward and gingerly wiped the dust from the screen with the sleeve of their tweed jacket.

One man brushed the keys reverently with his fingertips. "This program is nearly fifty years old. It took me half an hour just to find a manual old enough to correspond."

"What should we do then?"

"We can call the Northern HQ tomorrow and see what they want to do. We've got more important things to do that worry about some numbers on buoys that are probably on their last legs."

* * *

_Seawall Drive. ( __Galveston_ _Texas__. Earth)_

Over the past few years the dark haze that never seems to leave Texas City has steadily grown darker. Its oily fingers have begun to reach for nearby cities. Houston, Galveston, and even the formerly white sand skirted South Padre Island have all reported increases in air bourn pollutants. Of course, that doesn't matter now.

Most of the towns and cities along the Gulf Coast have been abandoned due to the rising of the sea. At the dawn of the 20th century a terrible hurricane struck Galveston and nearly decimated the whole city. After that tragedy, a 17 foot tall seawall was built along the island's coast.

No one paid much heed as the wall, slowly began to shrink. Few people ever came for the beaches; which were mediocre in the best of times. But when the beaches disappeared all together, panic spread.

Like Venice, New Orleans, and the Florida Keys, Galveston would one day be swallowed by the unbigoted ocean. All man was the same. She would as easily swallow the Vatican City as she would Mecca were she given the opportunity. Man and woman. White and Black. Coordinator and Natural. All man was the same. Humanity was nothing but specks that caused her pain.

But perhaps the tips of the three glass pyramids at Moody Gardens, the smokestacks of Houston, the flags on the uppermost mast of the Battleship Texas, or perhaps the pollution stained lady of liberty atop a state capital dome would remain as a testament to time and our own mortality.

It is already beginning now, in C.E. 71. The ocean has risen past the seawall and beyond the street that once ran along it. Now it laps gently at the doors of boarded up businesses and hotels.

Few remained on the island. Many moved to nearby Houston, or even out of the country as the United States cut research funding to bolster the war effort.

The Gulf of Mexico Research Facility was once the central source of government income and growth for the island. Because of its numerous positions and prestigious reputation, the facility attracted new families and inspired the city to improve itself out of its borderline impoverished state.

When the state stopped funding it, GoMRF faded. So dependant on the research facility, the city nearly faded along with it. However several historical sites saved it from total oblivion. Now those historical sites, the Moody Mansion, the Hurricane Museum, all lay in ruins.

The families of GoMRF scientists moved to Canada, Australia, Portugal; other countries with funded marine interests. Thus the base network for the International Marine Monitoring Agency was founded.

* * *

_IMMA Northern HQ ( __Port Alberni_ _British Columbia__. Earth)_

"This is a great discovery. Great, and terrible. If this data is true- no, but you…you have a better means to see what is happening. But- listen to me, dammit! This information could be critical. Don't put me on hold; I need to speak to some one in charge, now! Something must be happening, I can feel it. This is too drastic of a shift to take lightly, and with all the weather anomalies... listen to-" the man pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it in disbelief.

"They hung up on me."

His companion looked up at him and replied simply, "that's because you're not good at conversation."

The other man sighed and set the phone down on his desk.

"Hey, come on Miche. Maybe they just lost the signal."

"No," Miche wearily walked to his own cluttered desk. "Al, I think that the PLANT knows something that we do not." His hands found the picture of his daughter. Captured forever and preserved in glass and sterling.

Dr. Miche Crysanthys sighed. He was growing old. His daughter was already an independent teenager. Al had a son who just turned ten. And old Benzi had two grandchildren and another on the way.

The distant thrumming of marching feet echoed even here in Port Alberni. Every day he worried about the children- no, they weren't children any more. As he slipped further into his thoughts, the pounding of the surf grew louder. Or perhaps it was his heart, beating wildly against his ribs. Or the war drums of some distant time...

"Miche!" Al's desperate cry made him look up, momentarily disorientated by the withdrawal from his thoughts, which walked surf-pounded shores a life time away. Hand in hand with his wife and daughter, walking along with the warm sands cradling their bare feet and sweet sea air pulling at their hair.

Al shouted again, "Miche!"

The pounding didn't cease as Miche broke from the reverie. He looked around wildly for the source of the noise. Horror lanced through his heart as he saw the wooden door strain against the force behind it.

* * *

FIN! 

My first cliffhanger!

If any of these agency names correspond with actual institutions, it is coincidental.

Yes, Venice is sinking due to rising sea water. Yes, a hurricane struck Galveston in the late 19th- early 20th century. Yes, there is a sea wall, and a Sea wall Drive. Texas City is an area just outside of Houston that is nothing but refineries. Moody Gardens is made up of three large glass pyramids and a large building with various things in it. The blue pyramid is pretty much a gigantic aquarium. The pink is about space, if I'm correct. And the clear pyramid houses a large rainforest/jungle habitat.


	6. All Things Shatter

**Disclaimer:** I own none of the rights to Gundam Seed or Day After Tomorrow.

The dialogue was taken directly from the movie The Day After Tomorrow, to which I claim no rights. This was from the main scene that inspired this story. All the things that happen from there are my design.

Also, I hate this chapter. It took me several weeks to trudge through it, and it isn't even very long. There is just something about it that makes my mind grind to a halt. But it's finally done. Please forgive the horrible quality. Merf. --

A/N

Linguistic butterflies, a conference, a battle of words, and suspicious behavior.

Here is a full summary of the story: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council sets into motion Operation Ether. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, goes horribly and irrevocably awry. Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society. While in the shadows, powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

**All Things Shatter **

* * *

_IMMA Northern HQ ( __Port Alberni__. British Columbia. Earth)_

The distant thrumming of marching feet echoed even here in Port Alberni. Every day he worried about the children- no, they weren't children any more. As he slipped further into his thoughts, the pounding of the surf grew louder. Or perhaps it was his heart, beating wildly against his ribs. Or the war drums of some distant time...

"Miche!" Al's desperate cry made Miche look up, momentarily disorientated by the withdrawal from his thoughts, which walked surf-pounded shores a life time away. Hand in hand with his beautiful wife and daughter, walking along with the warm sands cradling their bare feet and sweet sea air pulling at their hair.

Al shouted again, "Miche!"

The pounding didn't cease as Miche broke from the reverie. He looked around wildly for the source of the noise. Horror lanced through his heart as he saw the wooden door strain against the force behind it.

"Miche, the door!" Al cried in dismay, but his efforts were lost.

Miche ran his hand along the picture frame fondly, sadness pricking behind his tired sterling eyes. Hands beaten smooth as old driftwood trembled as he reached down to a drawer. It wasn't locked- it was never locked. With daunting trepidation, Miche pulled out a small handgun, forefinger hovering over the trigger. It was smooth in his hand. Almost too smooth.

The door gave a splintering moan as it resisted the force being applied to it. The tiny fissures that snaked across the wooden surface began to spread, splintering into a web of cracks, reaching out like greedy fingers, popping and cracking in alarm, and finally shattering in a shower of dust and projectile shards.

* * *

**_Several Months Prior_**

_Global Warming Conference ( New Delhi, India, Earth)_

Hundreds of bodies were sequestered in the auditorium. Their foreign perfumes and colognes mingled in the golden Indian light, creating a musky tang that lingered in the air and on the tongue. Translators sat behind a pane of glass, speaking amongst themselves as they waited for the conference to begin. Their voices dimmed as a red button at the front of the room blinked on. The lights faded behind the glass till the translators, sitting at their respective posts, were nothing but shadows against a backdrop of darker shadows.

Moments later the voices in the conference room hushed to the light fluttering of French and Arabic butterflies; whispers as a man crossed the platform. His powerful strides carried him quickly to the podium at the center of the large wooden stage. He seemed unfazed by the clicking of cameras and unnerving number of eyes that followed his every movement. Dark chestnut hair was combed back neatly, but the faint hints of stubble along his chin gave him a roguish charm that, when paired with his bright sterling eyes and the distinguished shock of grey at his temple, made him look more like a friendly university professor than some stuffy agency scientist.

The man stood before the podium, clearing his throat before beginning. "Hello, I'm Dr. Miche Crysanthys of the International Marine Monitoring Agency..."

Microphones were switched on as the translation booth instantly echoed the speaker's words in various tongues. A young woman with brown hair swept up into a bun leaned towards the microphone and mimicked in French, "Bonjour, je suis Dr. Miche Crystanthys d'agence de surveillance marine internationale..."

Various members of the assembly put a candid finger to their right ear and nodded as the information was relayed in their respective language.

Crysanthys nodded and turned to a screen set up on the far right of the stage. As images were projected upon the white canvas screen, he spoke calmly to the gathered diplomats. "What we have here is evidence of a cataclysmic climate shift which occurred around eleven thousand years ago. The concentration of the natural greenhouse gasses indicates that runaway warming pushed the planet into an ice age which lasted two centuries."

Howard Empfizen clicked on his microphone. Several heads turned to see what the head representative of the Atlantic Federation, a long time antagonist of the International Marine Monitoring Agency, would say. Howard leaned towards the microphone, and with genuine concern and slight curiosity softening his sharp amber eyes, looked up at Crysanthys. "I'm confused. I thought you were talking about global warming. Not an ice age."

"Yes, it is a paradox, but global warming can trigger a cooling trend. Let me explain." Crysanthys nodded to the man working the projector. A flat map of earth appeared on the screen with animated arrows indicating the 'classic' flow of the North Atlantic Current spanning past the Flemish Cap, into the Northwest Corner (52°N) into a loop, and then turning east.

"The Northern Hemisphere owes its temperate climate to the North Atlantic Current. Heat from the sun arrives at the equator and is carried north by the ocean. But global warming is melting the polar ice caps and disrupting this flow." Dr. Crysanthys turned from the screen to face the gathering. Remorsefully, Crysanthys revealed the results of his terrible findings. "Eventually it will shut down, and when that occurs, there goes our warm climate."

A representative of the PLANT was the first to speak. Anxiously the man leaned towards the microphone, "excuse me, but when do you think that this could happen? When?"

"I don't know. Maybe in a hundred years, maybe in a thousand." Crysanthys walked back to the center of the stage. Now determined, he looked at each member of the council accusingly. "What I do know is that if we do not act soon, it is out children and our grandchildren who will have to pay the price."

The PLANT representatives confidently returned Crysanthys' accusatory tone. "Who is going to pay for it? It would cost the terrestrial and universal economies hundreds of billions."

Crysanthys stood his ground and looked at the other members of the assembly, "with all due respect, the cost of doing nothing could be even higher. Our climate is fragile, at the rate we're burning fossil fuels and polluting the environment, the ice caps will soon disappear."

No one else spoke. This battle was between Crysanthys and the PLANT representative, who obviously wanted to have a say in a matter in which they were hardly involved. It was only because of India's status as a neutral nation that the PLANT had even been invited.

Again the representative leaned towards his microphone, "Dr... " he paused to remember the speaker's name, then continued with disdain and blatant haughtiness. "Crysanthys, our economies are every bit as fragile as the environment. Perhaps you should keep that in mind before making sensationalist claims." Satisfied, the man sat back in his chair with a smug twinkle in his eyes. Or was it something else...

Unfazed by the hostilities, Crysanthys pulled another fact from his arsenal. "Well, the last chunk of ice that broke off was about the size of the state Rhode Island. Some people might call that pretty sensational."

Whispers went up throughout the assembly hall. Discomfited, the PLANT representative settled back into his seat. Under his breath he muttered one word.

"Dammit."


End file.
